Bulb assembly transfer device



Oct. 17, 1961 H. w. ROEBER BULB ASSEMBLY TRANSFER DEVICE Original FiledDec. 16, 1955 7 Sheets-Shet 1 analsnsleieuenaisuane gi 191 a a 1 1 aINVENTOR HENRY W. ROEBER ATTORNEY Oct. 17, 1961 H. w. ROEBER 3,004,675

BULB ASSEMBLY TRANSFER DEVICE Original Filed Dec. 16, 1955 7Sheets-Sheet 2 Q ll-lm 2 F 2m Q 12.: p

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INVENTOR v HENRY w. ROEBER ATTORNEY Oct. 17, 1961 H- W. ROEBER BULBASSEMBLY TRANSFER DEVICE Original Filed Dec. 16, 1955 7 sheets sheet 3IN V EN TOR.

HENRY w. ROEBER' ATTORNEY Oct. 17,1961 H. w. ROEBER BULB ASSEMBLYTRANSFER DEVICE Original Filed Dec. 16, 1955 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 w s? n wINVENTOR HENRY W. ROEBER m ATTORNEY i Oct. 17, 1961 H. w. ROEBER BULBASSEMBLY TRANSFER DEVICE Original Filed Dec. 16, 1955 7 Sheets-Sheet 5INVENTOR.

HENRY w. ROEBER BY ATTORNEY 1 [\ill'llll-lllli Oct. 17, 1961 H. w.ROEBER BULB ASSEMBLY TRANSFER DEVICE Original Filed Dec. 16, 1955 7Sheets-Sheet 7 FIG- 12 INVENTOR H NRY W. ROEBER BY ATTORNEY UnitedStates Patent 3,004,675 BULB ASSEMBLY TRANSFER DEVICE Henry W. Roeber,Emporium, Pa., assignor, by nlesne assignments, to Sylvania ElectricProducts Inc., Wilmington, 'Del., a corporation of Delaware Originalapplication Dec. 16, 1955, Ser. No. 553,569, now Patent No. 2,940,220,dated June 14, 1960. Divided and this application Apr. 4, 1960, Ser. No.19,673

, 7 Claims. (Cl. 214-1) This invention relates to transfer apparatus forhandling an assembly of a tubulated glass bulb and glass stem with itsassociated mount, the assembly comprising portions of an electron tubeto be united into a unitary structure. g 1

The assembly is transferred from a conveyor whereon the tubulated bulbhad been preliminarily telescoped over the mount on the stem of theelectron tube onto a peg on an indexible turret, the turret being partof a machine for effecting further telescoping of the bulb opposite thestem and for sealing the bulb to the stem.

It is an object of the invention to provide a means to efficiently graspthe parts of the electron tube assembly while they, are on the conveyorand transfer themonto a peg of the turret.

Other objects will become apparent after reading the followingspecification and claims and by reference to the accompanying drawingsin which j FIGS. 1a and 1b together constitute a plan view of themachine, with parts broken away and in section to illustrate otherwisehidden parts, the sectional parts being generally along the line la-laof FIG. 4 and lb1bof FIG. 10.

FIG. 2 is a sectional View with parts broken away to show intermittentdrive mechanism for the conveyors of the machine.

FIG. 3 is a fragmental elevational view of the machine taken a little tothe left of a loading station and about centrally, longitudinally, ofFIG. 1a.

FIG. 4 is a section through the loading station taken on the line 44 ofFIG. la.

FIG. 5 is a section on the line 55 of FIG. 4 showing how the exhausttubulation of a bulb may be held in a carrier on a top conveyor.

FIG. 6 is a view, partly in section; of a peg for holding V 2 orbit, theupper conveyor being adapted to convey bulbs 14,. open and down, withtheir exhaust tubulations 16 extending upwardly from the domes of thebulbs and with their stem afiixed mounts 20 and which mounts includeinsulating spacers 19 such as mica.

conveyors.

a stem mount assembly, the peg being mounted on a 7 FIG. 8 is asectional vertical elevation of the drive mechanism shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 9 is a section on the line 9-9 of FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is an elevational view, partly in section, of the bulb and stemassembly machine unloading mechanism as viewed from the left in FIG. 1b.

- FIG. 11 is a view of the unloading mechanism as viewed from the rightin FIG. 1b.

FIG. 12 is an enlargement of the jaw mechanism employed to grasp theassembly during its transfer from the preheater and assembly apparatusto the sealing machine, and

FIG. 13 is a view, partly in section, showing a portion of the mechanismoperative to open and close the jaws and move the jaws back and forthbetween the conveyors and the bulb-to-stem sealer.

A loading station indicated as such and also as 21 is provided whereatthe runs of the conveyors are vertically offset to facilitate conveyorloading. To the left of the loading station, as seen in FIG. '1a, meansare provided, generally indicated as 22, to align the bulb over thestem-mount and push the bulb down in telescoped relation over the mountso that the bottom of the bulb is close to but spaced from the stem,this occurring in proper timed relationship with index movement of theThe conveyors, in travelling clockwise as viewed in FIGS. la and lb,carry the assembled bulb and stem, see FIG. 4, between heaters 23provided with heat insulating enclosures 24 and 25 to an unloadingstation, indicated generally as 26 whereat the bulb assembly istransferred from the conveyors to a sealer 28 for sealing of the bulb tostem, the sealing being efiected after the bulb has been automaticallythrust down over the stem by mechanism on the sealer. The sealer is notshown in detail since it is not part of the invention. The conveyors arearranged so that as they pass around end sprockets at the unloadingstation where the conveyors are close to the sealer, the sealer havingan indexible turret provided with circumferentially arranged pegs.

Now referring to the drawings in greater detail:

The machine comprises a long narrow base or table 30 on which aremounted spaced and aligned webbed beams 32 provided with arms 34supporting the heat insulating enclosures 25. This enclosure is abox-like body filled with heat insulating material 36. A similarenclosure 24 is mounted on brackets 38 extending from side walls of thebase, the opposed enclosures being spaced from one another as seen inFIGS. 4 and 7 and providing space therebetween for the longitudinaltravel of bulb and stem-mount assemblies. Each of the enclosures has alongitudinal recess in the wall adjacent the path of travel of the tubeassemblies to accodmodate the heaters 23 of conventional helical coilconstruction. 'L-The heaters may run from a location close to theloading station 21 to any desired extent around the machine, itdesirably extending to a point close to the unloading station 26.

The conveyors are link chains running in grooved tracks 40 and 42suitably supported by the beams 32 and by the table, these chainsrunning around dual sprockets 44, 46 mounted at the longitudinal ends ofthe table. Each alternate link of the upper chain is provided with aholder 48, see FIGS. 4 and 5, for resiliently retaining an exhausttubulationl16 and attached bulb, the holder comprising a pair of rightangled plates 50 secured to a right angled arm 52 provided on theforward side, or the side facing the operator, with converging cheeks 54to guide a tubulation into a seat formed in part as a semicylindricalrecess on the angular arm 52- and by a pair of balls 56, spring pressedtogether by a pair of levers 58, pivoted on the arm and urged to pressagainst the balls bya spring 60. Each alternate link of the lower chainis provided with a pair of angled plates 62 supporting a casting 64 onwhich is mounted a post 66 formed at its upper end, see FIG. 6, into apeg 68 with a circular groove 70 in its upper .face to accommodate theleads of a stem assembly, with the lower face of the stem 18 resting onthe upper face of the peg. The upper and lower conveyor tracks run inendless horizontal orbits with generally straight run portions connectedby loops and are in vertical registration except at the loading station21. At this station, see FIG; la and FIG. 4, the orbits are offset. Thelower track 42 and the pegs 68 are-set in closer to' the longitudinalcenter of the table than the upper track 40 and its bulb holders 48. Asa result, an operator may load the pegs with stem assemblies at theloading station and then load the upper conveyor holders with tubulatedbulbs without the hand of the operator inadvertently engaging anddisplacing the stem assemblies from their pegs. As can be seen, theoperator may, with the vertically offset conveyor arrangement disclosed,during the process of clipping in a tubulation into the upper holder,have. the knuckles of the hand in the horizontal plane of the stemassembly and yet not engage the same.

- Reverting to FIGS. lb, 2 and 8, it will be seen that the conveyors 1t)and 12 are driven through the dual sprockets 46. .These sprockets aremaintained spaced apart by. a sleeve 72. The sleeve and. sprockets =findbearing on a shouldered portion of a post 74 and are rotatably mountedon the post. To the lowersprocket is fixed an inverted cup 76 flanged atits lower open end, as at 78, the flange being provided with equallyspaced circumferentially arranged driving studs 30 provided'withanti-friction rolls 81 engageable with a barrel cam 82 fixed to a crossshaft 84 driven from the drive coupled to the sealer 28, whereby thepreheater and sealer are driven in synchronism. The cams in the barrelcam are shaped to impart intermittent drive to the sprockets 46.

The shaft 84 is geared to a main longitudinal cam shaft 86 mounted inbrackets 88' supported by the table 35 Also mounted in these brackets isa second longitudinal shaft 9% the shaft 90 forming a bearing for thehubs of several angled levers, as will be described.

Now considering FIGS. la, 3 and 7, the vertically spaced conveyors, asthey move to the left from the loading station 21 to the pusher station22, come into vertical registerso that a glass bulb 14 is axiallylocated with respect to the axis of a glass stem and mount supported onapeg 68. At the pusher station means are provided to insurecorrectaxialcentering of the bulb with respect to the stem and to thrustthe centered bulb pantway down toward the. stem 18 and over the mount20.

At this pusher station there is a vertically reciprocatable carriage 92'arranged transverse to the conveyors and slidable on two posts 94.fixedly mounted in a bracket 96 secured to the table 3:). The carriagecomprises a webbed casting including a cross bar 98 and two verticallegs 10%, one on each side of the lower conveyor. Parallel with the legsareoscillatable shafts 102 each having gears 164 fixed on the upper endsand like gears 105 on their lower ends, the gears each lying in upperand lower gear boxes 106 and 107, respectively. The upper gears eachmesh with a rack bar 108, one rack bar being behind a gear as viewed inFIG. 7 and the other rack bar being in front of a gear so that onsimultaneous rotation of the shafts 102 in the same direction, the rackbars would be moved in opposite directions. Each of the rack bars isfastened at its end to a half conical guide jaw 116, each jaw having anarcuate tapering wall 117 terminating in a shoulder 118 against whichthe bulb will come to rest when thrust down into the. jaws. The jaws areresiliently urged toward each other through'the intermediary of a spring119 fastened at one end to a. fixed horizontal pin 120 on the carriage92 and at its other end to a depending pin 121 mounted at the end of abar 122 slidably mounted in the lower boxes 107 and. provided with racksegments 110 held to the bar by screws 112, the segments110engaging'both of the lower gears 105 on the same sides thereof. Toenable indexing movement of the bulbs without interference from thejaws, the jaws are withdrawn from each other by left hand movement ofthe bar 122, this being effected by reason of a cam follower 124 on: thebar engaging a cam face on a cam lever 126 rotatably mounted on. a stubshaft. 127 supported in a bracket frame 128 depending from the-table.The lever, in: turn, is provid'ed with a cam follower engaging a cam.

and orientated on'the shaft that the jaws will be permitted to be springpressed toward each other after indexing movement of the conveyors andwill remain so spring pressed together during downward movement of thecarriage 92, as will be described, and be again opened on upwardmovement of the carriage, the conveyors indexing during said upwardmovement of the carriage.

The carriageL92 is slid on the posts 94- by reason of rotation of cam-13!], also fixed to shaft 86. This cam has a recessed path on its righthand side face, as seen in FIG. la, in which rides a cam follower 132 ona lever 134, pivoted on the shaft 90, and the forward end of which isconnected by a link 136: to the lower portion of carriage 92. As the camI29 rotates, the carriage 92 will perform quick vertical reciprocatorymovements. Movable with the carriage is a thrust rod 138. This rod isfreely sli'dablein hearings in the carriage 9 2 and is resiliently helddown against a long lever arm of a bell crank lever 14!), rotatablymounted on the carriage, by a coil spring 142 encircling the rod. Thisspring reacts at the top against a carriage portion and at the bottomagainst a block 144 pinned to the rod, the block being guided in itsvertical movement by a guide 146 fastened by screws or the like to thecarriage 92. As a result, the rod is held against rotation while it mayhave a limited vertical reciprocatable movement with respect to thecarriage 92. At the upper end of the rod is a vertically adjustablepusher finger 14-8 which normally lies in a plane above the level of thetubulation 16 but is in vertical register therewith. After the jaws 1.16have closed on the bulb, as seen in PEG. '7, the long lever arm ispermitted to lower, and the spring 142 operates to thrust the bulb downin between the jaws and onto the shoulder 118, the jaws spreading, asnecessary, to accommodate the bulb as it forces its way down the conicalwalls. The forcing of the bulb down onto the seat 118 assures subsequentaccurate spacing of the bulb above the stem. The tubulatio'n 16- beingonly frictionally held by the holder 48, is permitted to be forced downin the holder. The jaws are permitted to spread because of theresiliency provided by the spring 119. After the bulb 14 has been thrustdown onto its seat, the carriage and pusher rod move down togetherslipping the bulb over the mount 20 until the bulb bottom closelyapproaches the stem 18, as seen, for example, on the right in FIG. 7'.The bulb is retained in this position because the inner surface of thebulb is in frictional engagement with the mica spacers 19 of the mount.Then after the jaws open, the carriage starts to move upwardly underinfluence of the cam 130. During the upward motion of the carriage, thethrust rod 138 is forced upwardly against the action. of spring 142 bythe action of a cam 150 fixedly mounted on the cam shaft 86, said camreacting against. a follower on a lever arm 152 also mounted on stubshaft 127.. The lever arm 152 thrusts against thefollower on thedepending second arm of the bell crank lever 140, rotating the leverclockwise, as viewed in 7, and forcing the rod 138 upwardly. The cam 150is so contoured that just prior to the initial downward movement of thecarriage, the spring 142 can react to rotate the bell crank 140counterclockwise, as seen in FIG. 7. V

The bulb after assembly with the stem-mount, is then indexed through thelong preheater chamber wherein the tube parts are preheated to initiallyprocess parts within the bulb and bring the glass envelope up intemperature to inhibit glass cracking during subsequent processing ofthe tube.

The heater, in the preferred embodiment, runs substantially to theunloading. station at '26, as seen in FIG. 1b. At this station, transfermeans are provided to remove a tube. assembly from the conveyor chainsand translate it to the sealer 28. Since the turret of. the sealeroperates in synchronism with the movement of parts in the preheater,orderly loading of the sealer is attained.

At the unloading station, see FIGS. to 13, a pair of unloader jawsgenerally indicated as 160 and 162 functions to lift a bulb assembly offthe pegs of the lower conveyor, and remove the exhaust tubulation fromits chuck, move the assembly over an indexed peg on a bulbto-stemsealer, move the assembly down onto the peg of the sealer and return tothe conveyors for repeating the process. These jaws are-supported formovement on a frame 164 provided with a'collar 166 pinned to a hollowpost 168 vertically reciprocatable in a sleeve 170 mounted on the table30. The hollow post is moved upwardly against the action of gravity byengagement of slotted portions 172 thereof with a forked end of a lever174 pivoted on an extension from the sleeve 170. The lever is operatedby a cam 176 fixed on cam shaft 86. The vertical movement of the frameserves to lift an assembled bulb and stem-mount from off a peg on thepreheater and, after the unloader jaws are over a peg on the sealer, tomove the assembly down onto the sealer peg. To open and close the jaws,there is provided a second unloader cam 178 fixed on the shaft 86. Thissecond cam operates on a double armed lever 180. The hub of this leveris mounted on the long shaft 90 and a long arm of the lever has a forkedend straddling an antifriction roller 182 mounted on the lower end of arod 8 184 passing through the hollow post 168 and to the upper end ofwhich is afiixed a rack bar186 engaged with a rack driven gear 188. Therack driven gear, see FIG. 1l,'is mounted on the end of a shaft gear 190with gear teeth running longitudinally of the length of the shaft gearin the space between side cheeks of the frame 164. The frame alsofixedly mounts a pair of guide rods arranged parallel to the shaft gear,one rod 192being supported between two arms on the frame and the otherrod 194 being directly above the shaft 190 and back 'of rod 192 asviewed in FIG. 11. Slidable on the pair of rods is a carriage 196 withinwhich is a way 198 guiding two oppositely reciprocatable superimposedbars, these being designated as a slidable top bar 200 and a slidablelower bar 202. To the top bar is attached a rack bar 201 which overliesand engages with theteeth on'elongated gear 190 and to the bottom 'baris attached a rack bar. 293 which underlies and engages with the teethof the same gear. Thus reciprocation of the rack bar 186'causesoscillatory movement of the elongated gear and opposite reciprocatingmovement of the bars 200 and 202, regardless of the position of thecarriage 196 longitudinally of the frame 164. The upper bar mounts thejaw 160 and the lower bar mounts the jaw 162, via angled supports 204and 206 respectively. The jaws comprise three vertically spaced pairs ofbulb assembly holding means. The uppermost pair 208 is shaped andpositioned to engage around the exhaust tublation 16 of the bulbassembly; the middle pair 210 is shaped to engage the glass bulb 14; andthe lowermost pair 212 is recessed to embrace substantially the entirerim of the stem 18. When the carriage 1% moves from the extreme end ofthe frame 164 as seen in FIG. lb toward a bulb assembly on the chainconveyor, the jaws 160 and 162, if not already opened wide, are soopened by operation of the cam connected to the rack bar 186. The partsare so timed that when the jaws have travelled from in back of the frontrun of the conveyor forwardly to a position where they are in alignmentwith the conveyor runs and on opposite sides of the bulb, the jaws willclose thereon as shown in FIG. 12. The position of the jaws back of theruns and betweenthe conveyors is necessary to allow the positioning of abulb assembly before the jaws and to a position where the bulb and stemmay be grasped by the jaws on preliminary advance of the carriage 196toward the sealer. Next, see FIG. 10, the hollow post 168 will beelevated, lifting the carriage 164, jaws 160 and 162 and the tubeassembly off the peg. The

post 'is prevented from rotating in the sleeve 170 by engagement of therack 186 with the gear 188 and by engagement of an angled bar 214mounted on the post within a slot 216 formed in an extension from thesleeve 170. The frame 164 when thus guided will lie at an angle to andbetween the conveyors at the unloaded portion thereof and directedtoward the sealer. The unloading jaws, because of the configuration ofthe angled supports 204 and 206 will be in a line of short travelbetween the preheater and sealer. After the jaws have engaged a tubeassembly, the carriage 196 is shifted to a position where the jaws aremoved over an indexed peg 217 on the sealer.

The means for moving the clamp jaws toward and from the sealer comprisesa third cam 218, see P16. 111, of the group of unloader cams, providedwith a recessed cam track like that in cam 130 and operative on a bellcrank lever 220 rotatably mounted on shaft 90. The lever 220 isuniversally jointed to a long link 222 which is pivoted to an arm 224 ofa collar 226 fixed to a vertical shaft 228 oscillatable in a bearing 230fixed to the table 30. The shaft at its upper end has an arm 232 fixedthereto connected by a link 234 provided with universal joints to a stud236 mounted on the carriage 196. When the unloader jaws have reached aposition over a sealer peg, the lever 180 will be operated to lower thecarriage to position the bulb assembly on the peg. The parts are sotimed that, after this has been effected, the rack bar 186 will open theunloader jaws 160 and 162, and the cam 218 will withdraw the jaws to aposition behind the chain conveyors. When the jaws are in this position,the conveyors are indexed to bring a bulb assembly in front of the jaws.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed 1. In combination,a conveyor means having superposed vertically spaced conveyors runningin horizontal orbits, the conveyors having support means to supportarticles vertically therebetween, means for jointly indexing theconveyors, indexible means adjacent the conveyors having supports forreceiving articles removed from the conveyors, and transfer means havingjaws movable in between the spaced conveyors and movable from a positionbehind the conveyors and an article supported by the conveyors to aposition over a support on the indexible means, means for so moving thejaws, means for additionally moving the jaws together when in verticalalignment with the conveyors, means for moving the jaws upwardly when insaid aligned position, means for additionally moving the jaws downwardlywhen over the support, means for opening the jaws after said downwardmovement and means for moving the jaws back to a position behind theconveyors.

2. A conveyor means preheater provided with a spaced pair of endlessconveyors in parallel planes, means on one of said conveyors cooperatingwith companion means on the other of said conveyors to hold an articletherebetween, transfer means having jaws, said jaws being movablebetween the planes of the conveyors and from a position behind a run ofthe conveyors to 'a position in alignment therewith, means for closingthe jaws on an article at said position, means for lifting the jawswhile at said position, means for additionally moving the jaws inadvance of said runs, means for lowering and subsequently opening thejaws when in said advanced position and means for returning the jaws tothe original position and electron tube assembly engagingiaws carried bythe slidable bars at their other ends, the last mentioned rack barsengaging the long gear teeth on opposite sides of the shaft diameter,means for sliding the carriage to bring the jaws in a position to engagethe tube assembly on the conveyor means, whereat the jaws engage thetube assembly, said means also being effective to move the carriage to apoint of discharge whereat the jaws release the tube assembly.

4'. Means for transferring an electron tube assembly comprised of atubulated bulb and a stem-mount from a conveyor means to a point ofdischarge comprising a rack and driving means therefor, a pinion drivenby said rack, a shaft fixedly mounting said pinion, long gear teeth onsaid shaft, guides parallel to said shaft, a carriage slidable on saidguides, bars slidable in opposite directions in said carriage andmovable in directions transverse to the direction of movement of thecarriage, rack bars carried by the slidable bars at their one ends andelectron tube assembly engaging jaws carried by the slidable bars attheir other ends, said jaws comprising three pairs of complementaryportions with the pairs ar ranged in linear fashion, a first pair beingprovided with complementary recessed portions to engage a tubulationattached to a bulb, a second pair comprising arcuate fingers to surroundthe bulb adjacent the bottom thereof and the third pair comprisingarcuate members to engage the stem of the assembly, the arcuate membersbeing recessed to surround the edge of the stem, the last mentioned rackbars engaging the long gear teeth on opposite sides of the shaftdiameter, means for sliding the carriage to bring the jaws in a positionto engage the tube assembly on the conveyor means, whereat the jawsengage the tube assembly, said means 'also being effective to move thecarriage to a point of discharge whereat the jaws release the tubeassembly.

5. A transfer means comprising a frame, means for raising an dlo-weringsaid frame, a shaft gear carried by said frame with gear teeth runningfrom end to end of the frame, a pinion fixed to said shaft gearexteriorly of the frame, a rack bar engaging the pinion to move thesame, means to drive the rack bar, a pair of guide rods carried by saidframe-and running parallel to said shaft gear, a carriage slidable onsaid rods, a way in said carriage intersecting at right angles the axisof the shaft gear, a pair of superposed bars in said way, a rack bar onone of the bars of said pair engaging the shaft gear on one side of theshaft, a rack bar on the other bar of said pair engaging the shaft gearon the other side of the shaft, means for reciprocating the carriagewith its rack bars along the gear shaft and opposed mating jaws carriedby the pair of superposed bars.

6. In combination, superposed vertically spaced conveyors running inhorizontal orbits, the conveyors having support means to supportarticles vertically therebetween, means'for jointly indexing theconveyors, indexible means adjacent the conveyors having supports forreceiving articles removed from the conveyors, and transfer means havingjaws movable in between the spaced conveyors and movable from a positionbehind the conveyors and an article supported by the conveyors toaposition over a support on the indexible means, means for so moving thejaws, means for additionally moving the jaws together when in verticalalignment with the conveyors, means for moving the jaws'upwardly when insaid aligned position, means for additionally moving the jaws downwardlywhen over the support, means for opening the jaws after said downwardmovement and means for moving the jaws back to a position behind theconveyors.

7. A spaced pair of endless conveyors-in parallel planes, means on oneof said conveyors cooperating with companion means on the other of saidconveyors tohold an article therebetween, transfer means having jaws,said jaws being movable between the planes of the conveyors and from aposition behind a run of the conveyors to a position in alignmenttherewith, means for closing the jaws on an article at said position,means for lifting the jaws while at said position, means foradditionally moving the jaws in advance of said runs, means for loweringand subsequently opening the jaws when in said advanced position andmeans for returning the jaws to the original position behind a run ofthe conveyors.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,593,825 Higgins July 27, 1926 1,766,573 Westin June 24', 1930'2,022,786 Schwab Dec. 3, 1935 2,691,246 Roeber Oct. 12, 1954

